


The Invader

by KirstenCerece



Category: Stitchers (TV)
Genre: F/M, Humor, camsten, talk of children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-29 08:19:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6366571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KirstenCerece/pseuds/KirstenCerece
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short multi-chapter fic about Kirsten taking on the challenge of helping Cameron watch his sister's daughter. Kirsten's afraid of the child, while Cameron's afraid of the experience leading to a conversation about children of their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Thursday

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it would be cute to do something where Kirsten is forced to interact with a toddler while adding a serious air of our favorite OTP and Ship talking about future children. Please enjoy!

“Sarah, I don’t know. I’d be fine watching Adriana for a few days, but I’m not sure how Kirsten would feel. She’s not exactly ecstatic to be around other people, let alone small children.” Sarah laughed, and Cameron cringed knowing that Kirsten’s dislike of kids wasn’t going to persuade his sister to have someone else watch her 2 year old daughter.

“She’ll be fine Cammy. Besides you guys have to have the kids talk one day, so why not now?” Cameron cleared his throat and shifted nervously in his seat.

“Okay Sarah, we’ll watch her. Just, please don’t blame me if she comes back and starts spouting off some weird things Kirsten tells her.” He heard muffled shouting for a moment, and a brief bout of laughter.

“Alright, I’ll drop her off this Thursday and pick her up Sunday. Don’t worry about stocking up on her favorite foods, I’ll take care of it. Love you Cammy!”

Kirsten was going to kill him. While sitting at the stop light, he put the top of his convertible back down and sighed. He was on his way home from picking up dinner for the two of them, while Kirsten stayed in the apartment working on some paperwork for their latest closed case. It wasn’t the fact that he’d agreed to watch Adriana without asking her first that was worrying Cameron so much. It was the children conversation.

He knew it was one of those conversations they would have to have at some point, and putting it off would only make the topic more difficult. Cameron wasn’t crazy about children (the misbehaved, obnoxious ones anyway) but he knew that he eventually wanted at least one. Kirsten however…. He remembered her face as she watched some children at a restaurant.

_“Everything okay?”_

_“Yeah, I’m just watching these kids at the table over there. They’re revolting.”_

_“Revolting how?”_

_“There’s food everywhere, on the table and them. The girl has snot running down her face, oh gross she just wiped it on her sleeve! The parents didn’t even tell her not to or, ugh, the other one just coughed everywhere and didn’t cover his mouth.” Her face was twisted in disgust, the grimace growing the longer she watched the kids._

This was going to be a rough weekend.

Eventually Cameron made it back to the apartment and found Kirsten curled up on the couch watching a movie on Netflix. Her hair was down and around her shoulders, indicating she was settled for the night. She looked up at the sound of the door opening and smiled. Despite the rocky start to Kirsten getting her emotions back, Cameron would be lying if he said it wasn’t worth it. Seeing her genuinely smile at him and to feel the love pour from her made it all worth it.

“You look comfy, so I’ll bring everything over.” Kirsten shrugged and turned back to the movie. It wouldn’t hurt to suck up a bit before telling her about Adriana.

They ate mostly in silence, with the occasional laugh echoing throughout the apartment. She seemed to be in a good mood. Cameron knew to try and bring it up if she were anything other than happy would be a possible death sentence.

“You’ve been distracted. Is everything okay?” Her hand sought his, and the sincerity of the question made his heart ache. Before The Stitch, she had only asked questions like that after noticing facial cues or something different in his body language, but now she could actually be concerned.

“I’m fine Buttercup, but I do have something to ask you.” Kirsten had been lying against his chest for some time after they finished eating, so Cameron felt it when she tensed up.

“I swear to god Cameron if you propose right now…” He laughed and swept his fingers through her silky hair.

“No, you’ve made it clear that if it’s not romantic you’re gonna say no and then kill me. I have something different to ask.” She hummed for a moment before relaxing again.

“It can’t be too bad. You’re not twitching or fidgeting with your glasses, so spill.”

“How would you feel about helping me watch my niece from Thursday to Sunday? Sarah and Ben are going out of town for a bit and need someone to watch Adriana.”

“Why do I have the feeling there really isn’t a choice, and you’re just asking so I won’t freak out about a kid suddenly running around?” He grinned guiltily, even though she couldn’t see it.

“Sarah was begging me. I couldn’t say no! I just thought that if you really didn’t want to be around, then you could go back to the house.”

“I live here now, and Camille lives there. I will take watching a kid any day over listening to Camille and Linus go at it all night.” He kissed the top of her head, thankful the conversation had gone over fairly well.

“So, you’re gonna help with Adriana?”

“Sure, how hard could it be to watch a seven year old? Aren’t they pretty much self-sufficient at that point anyway?” Cameron sighed. Perhaps it wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought.

“She’s two, almost three.”

“Is it too late to change my answer?” He just laughed again, and promised she wouldn’t have to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Maggie had surprisingly been understanding when both Cameron and Kirsten asked for the four days off they would have Adriana. She only asked that if something came up that needed one of the two, that one of them would come in to handle it. Since Turner’s death, Maggie had been less on edge concerning the program. There was talk of promoting her to director, but Maggie insisted that no one else could handle her team as well as she could (although Camille would argue she had as much control over them as a bunny rabbit). She did ask to be involved in the decision of picking the new director however, to ensure that the level of secrecy Turner forced her to keep would not happen again.

So when Kirsten was called in to look at an algorithm coding sequence that Thursday, it came as no surprise. To be completely honest, by the time Kirsten finished and was on her way home she had forgotten about the two year old running around her home.

She was reminded as soon as she stepped through the doorway, when a pair of bright blue eyes were staring her in the face. She froze, staring at the strange creature who had not blinked since she made eye contact.

“Cameron… A little help please…” He cracked up as soon as he rounded the corner. His girlfriend was standing frozen in the entryway, while Adriana beamed at her. The look of confusion and slight hint of terror was the icing on the cake. Adriana soon realized Cameron was standing behind her and screeched in happiness. Kirsten flinched and covered her ears, already dreading the next three days. The toddler giggled as Cameron picked her up, swinging her a bit before settling her against his hip. He approached Kirsten slowly, trying not to scare her.

“Adriana, this is Kirsten. Kirsten, this is my niece Adriana.” Adriana giggled and reached towards Kirsten, opening and closing her little fists in excitement. Kirsten’s eyes were as wide as they could go, and an almost imperceptible shake of the head made Cameron distract the toddler.

“How about we go back into the kitchen, and you help Uncle Cameron finish dinner?”

“No! Auntie Kwisten!” She took a deep breath, reminded herself that she loved Cameron, and stepped forward.

“I’m Kirsten, and I’ll come with you guys into the kitchen, okay?” She clapped her hands happily, squirmed to be let down, and ran into the kitchen. Cameron hung back to give Kirsten a quick kiss and a hug.

“See that wasn’t so bad, right?”

“I don’t have a choice, so it’s what I make of it. What are you cooking? I can maybe help.”

“Hotdogs and macaroni and cheese. If you want you can finish up the macaroni and put on the hotdogs while I entertain.” She nodded thankfully, and took to the stove while Cameron entertained with a coloring book.

Bags of things were strewn everywhere already. A backpack filled with games sat on the table, opened with half the items spilling out. There were a few reusable grocery bags sitting on the floor by the fridge. If she had to guess, the kid was a picky eater and Sarah had thoughtfully provided food to avoid any showdowns over a meal. Finally she caught sight of a lone messenger bag-type carrying device with butterflies all over it. Consider the girls age it had to be… Kirsten paled at the thought of the diaper bag.

“Hey Cam? Remember what you promised me about this?”

“Yeah, why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just wanted to remind you of that promise. Just in case.”

~.~.~.~.~.~.

When Adriana was finally put down in the guest bedroom for the night, Kirsten laid with Cameron on the couch looking smug. When it came to small children, she wasn’t comfortable about anything to do with them. Growing up she had never been exposed to kids younger than herself for long periods of time, and still didn’t remember anything from before five years old. Some of her memories had come back, but nothing before five was there yet.

“I knew you had thought of something when you asked me about my promise.”

“I am not comfortable arguing with a toddler to get her to eat, I am not comfortable with the way she stares at me, and I am absolutely not comfortable with changing a diaper. I’m not even comfortable touching her or looking at her. Toddlers are so creepy…” He would have found the confession hilarious, had he not been the one to take care of everything she felt uncomfortable with. He did still find it funny though.

“A deal’s a deal, but what if Maggie calls and needs me to come in. I can’t take Adriana with me, and I have no idea how long I’d be in the lab.”

“Well let’s just hope that doesn’t happen.”

“Whatever you say Princess. Let’s go to bed. I know you’re tired, and Adri will be up early in the morning.” Kirsten groaned and buried her head into his neck. Cameron laughed and scooped up his toddler-fearing girlfriend to take her to bed.

Halfway through the night, Kirsten woke up to eyes staring at hers. She barely stifled a scream and jumped back against Cameron.

“Can’t sleep. Me sleep with Aunt Kissy and Uncle Cam?” She started elbowing Cameron, trying to wake him up while Adriana started to try and climb in the bed.

“Aw, come here Adri. You can sleep by me, okay?”

“No, Aunt Kissy!” The pure look of terror on Kirsten’s face made him shake his head.

“Aunt Kirsten moves around a lot in her sleep, and she’s afraid she’ll accidently squish you. So how about you sleep by me?” The toddler nodded her head, apparently placated with the explanation and crawled over Kirsten to get to Cameron.

For a while Kirsten laid there watching the ceiling, thinking. Children had never been on her agenda, even after getting her emotions back. She knew she loved Cameron, but was it enough to give him something she didn’t really want? Some people didn’t want a child until they got pregnant, but what if Kirsten still didn’t want one even after that? She sighed in frustration and decided that it was a problem for another a day, one that she definitely needed Cameron to help her with.


	2. Friday

_~.~.~.~.~.~. 5:30 AM ~.~.~.~.~.~._  
  
When Kirsten woke up, she thought everything was just as it was any other morning. She was thankful she could relax in the warm bed for a while and not rush to the Lab. But why did she still feel so tired? Come to think of it, the sun wasn’t even shining through the curtains yet…

“Hungry.” Kirsten screamed and flinched to the side, bumping into Cameron. He looked up drowsily, squinting to try and see without his glasses.

“Wha?” Adriana jumped up and down on the bed again chanting, “Hungry, hungry, hungry!” Kirsten pressed further against Cameron, trying to escape the bundle of energy jumping on their bed. A warm arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her in closer and away from Adri.

“Why don’t you go ahead and make your bed while we get ready for the day?” The toddler nodded and hit the floor with a thud. Seconds later the door slammed shut, making both of them flinch again. Kirsten groaned lowly, and turned to bury her head against Cameron.

“I’ll get up and entertain, you get some more sleep.” She threw an arm around him, not wanting to let her source of warmth leave.

“That’s okay, I’ll get up too. Besides the bed will just get cold and then I won’t be able to sleep.” She felt a kiss on her head before Cameron shuffled over to grab his glasses and head to the bathroom. Kirsten sighed, wishing so badly they could’ve slept in at least a little bit longer. It wasn’t often they were able to both go to bed early and not be woken up by a call from the lab or have some other thing to do in the morning.

Cameron emerged with his contacts in and hair combed back into its glorious fluffiness. He looked way too alert to have been woken up so early in the morning. Kirsten was struggling to stay upright. He gave her another kiss and said, “Take your time. I’ll make fried eggs and potatoes since you both like them.” She had half a mind to flop backwards into the duvet, but instead reluctantly swung her legs out from under the warm covers and trudged to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later she emerged feeling slightly more awake, but still desperately needing a cup of coffee or tea. Adriana was sitting at the table playing on some sort of child’s tablet and eating dry cheerios, while Cameron was busy peeling and chopping up potatoes to put in the pan. Kirsten took half of the potatoes and moved to the island bar, peeling the rest of the untouched ones. He shot her a grateful look.

“She’s been asking every two minutes if it’s done yet. I wasn’t sure I was going to get through the potatoes without losing my sanity.”

“You can’t lose what you never had Captain Big Hair. You are dating me after all.” Cameron loved when she cracked jokes, and loved the fact she could truly enjoy telling them just as much.

Eventually after some rushed cooking, and about a million “Food?” questions later they were eating breakfast. Kirsten dug in, relishing the fact she no longer had to scrape by on frozen waffles every morning. Dating Cameron had come with so many perks that she couldn’t really complain about much else. Sure they both did things that drove the other nuts, but in her opinion the relationship would be boring without it.

“Tastes funny, I want how Mommy makes ‘tatoes.” Kirsten stopped mid-bite to look at Adriana. How could anyone not enjoy this food? Cameron was the best cook she knew.

“I made it the same way your Mommy does. I’m the one who taught her to make eggs and potatoes when we were little.” She pouted and threw the fork down onto the plate, sending particles of food flying. Cameron noticed Kirsten’s eye twitch, and quickly tried to diffuse the situation.

“Well, your Mommy adds a secret ingredient to your food that I don’t know. That’s why it tastes a little different.” Kirsten’s mouth dropped when the toddler shrugged and shoveled another bite into her mouth. Cameron’s phone dinged, Kirsten’s face lighting up the screen.

_How does she not like this food and how was she so easily tricked into eating it?_

He snickered and slightly shook his head in amusement. It was hard to remember Kirsten had never been around children, or talked to one for that matter. She had no idea that someone could be so picky when eating, throw a tantrum and forget about it moment later, or get up at the crack of dawn and have so much energy.

“Me done and me play now.” She skittered away from the table, running into the living room with surprising speed. Kirsten looked stunned for two seconds, then turned to Cameron with a confusion/angry expression.

“She didn’t even eat a quarter of her plate, and you put one egg and a spoon of potatoes on there. Now she just leaves it and runs off?”

“Sarah warned me she would do that, and come back hungry two hours later. Usually, Sarah just eats what was left.” Kirsten looked disgusted and pushed her plate away.

“People actually eat after kids? But they’re so gross! They don’t wash their hands, pick their noses, cough and sneeze everywhere, and then touch everything. It’d be not only safer but cleaner too if I ate off of the cadaver table in the lab, then if I ate after a toddler.” Cameron was cracking up at this point, enjoying his girlfriend’s discomfort more than he should.

“No one’s going to make you eat after her so relax. I’m just going to put it in the fridge until she’s hungry again.” Kirsten sagged in relief and groaned.

“She hasn’t even been here for a day, and I’m already tired of kids.”

“You know kids are like cats, right? They can sense when people don’t want to be around them and then do everything in their power to do exactly that.”

“Great, the little invader is gonna follow me around.” Her head gently hit the table, and Cameron laughed again.

_~.~.~.~.~.~. 11:00 AM ~.~.~.~.~.~._

Kirsten had already flopped on the couch and fell asleep. Cameron sat with her head on his lap, as promised. Kirsten had murmured, “Don’t let the invader mess with me,” before drifting off. Adriana had been coloring, playing on her tablet, and was now playing a dance game on his Wii. She hadn’t interacted much with Kirsten, or vice versa, but just trying to watch the girl and keep her from getting into things she shouldn’t have exhausted Kirsten.

“Winner!” A shrill voiced yelled. Cameron chuckled, seeing that a toddler had indeed gotten the ‘Winner’ screen indicating she had beaten Linus’ high score. Once Camille found out she would tease him relentlessly, as per their usual custom after she beat him at anything. Kirsten mumbled and turned on her side, away from the screen and dancing child.

“You good?” A muffled, “Yes,” floated to his ears. Cameron gently removed the hair tie holding her ponytail and started to run his fingers through her hair. His heart warmed a little watching her nap, but also sunk when he realized just how much she disliked kids. He had thought maybe being around Adriana for a few days would at least get Kirsten to even think about kids, but the way things were looking it wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

Cameron had never told anyone, not even his sister, that he actually wanted kids. Yes, he would have to give up some of his time spent experimenting with food and playing games. Kirsten seemed to plan on having a cat at the most, and she didn’t seem to want to leave the program anytime soon. He knew about Maggie’s son and how strained their relationship was. He didn’t want that for his kids, especially since he knew the pain of a broken child/parent relationship. And even though Kirsten had emotions now, could she really love a child like it would need? They loved each other, but they were also connected in ways no one else could ever be.

“You’ve got that look.” She had tilted her face to look up at him, brown eyes boring into to his to try and figure out what he was thinking.

“What look?”

“The look you get when something’s bothering you, but usually refuse to tell me about.” He loved having an intelligent girlfriend, but sometimes it did not work out to his advantage. She pulled herself up and nestled against his warm body, wrapping her arms around his torso.

“I’ll tell you eventually. Just, not now. I promise.” He kissed the top of her head, and her arms squeezed him back. Kirsten turned to watch Adriana dance around, where she was doing surprisingly well. Even she had to admit it was cute. Her little tongue poked out in concentration, something she had seen Sarah do a few times. Sarah wasn’t quite at the level Cameron was, but she was still very intelligent as was her husband. The toddler _was_ pretty smart for her age.

“Sometimes I think about having kids, but I always stop myself because I’m afraid.” Cameron almost gave himself whiplash from the speed he turned to look at her. She remained staring at Adriana, face expressionless.

“How about we talk about this tonight? After she’s put down we can stay up, eat ice cream, and watch something on Netflix, okay?” Kirsten nodded, sighed, and rested her head back on Cameron’s chest.

_~.~.~.~.~.~. 7:00 PM ~. ~.~.~.~.~._

Cameron watched as Kirsten watched Adriana in curiosity. The little girl was barely keeping her head up and eyes open as she tried to finish her dinner. Cameron had made spaghetti and hotdogs, a concoction Kirsten had never heard of and was reluctant to try. She thanked him when he pulled out some for her that had been made without hotdogs. Adriana had went straight for the hotdogs, and then attacking the spaghetti with gusto. She had finished off half the plate before her movements slowed and her eyes began to blink slowly.

“Did you drug her or something?”

“No, I did not drug her. Kids do this. They get up early, stay wired all day, and then get sleepy when the evening comes and warm food hit’s their stomach.”

“Let me just add that to my ‘Weird Thing’s Kids Do’ list.” Cameron bumped her arm playfully.

While he wasn’t looking forward to the conversation they’d have soon, he was glad she got to see what a toddler was like. Adriana was fairly well behaved. Of course she got excited and spoke a bit too loudly sometimes, but she listened when someone told her no and didn’t throw tantrums.

“I’m gonna put her to bed, you wanna help?” Kirsten nodded, thinking if she was truly going to consider children with Cameron, she needed to see what kids were like.

~.~.~.~.~.~. 9:00 PM ~.~.~.~.~.~.  
  
After helping Adriana brush her teeth and tuck her in, Kirsten felt weird. She couldn’t explain it, and she couldn’t tell if it was bad or good. While she did her evening routine, Cameron was setting up Netflix and getting the ice cream ready. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. Kirsten didn’t want to have this conversation, yet at the same time she did. It would have to happen eventually, and they may as well just go ahead and break the ice.

“You look pale. Are you okay?” Cameron put down the ice cream and put a hand to her forehead. Kirsten nodded and smiled.

“I’m just nervous about this. I don’t even know why I’m nervous, it’s just you and me talking.” He kissed her forehead and picked up bridal style, making her laugh. He set her on the bed, grabbed the ice cream and the remote, and settled down next to her.

“We’re just talking. No promises, no judging, just honesty. We can do that, right?” Kirsten nodded, shoved a spoonful of the delicious Nutella ice cream Cameron had managed to find, and watched the screen. They sat in silence for a little over an hour, just enjoying the ice cream and each other’s company. Cameron waited until the color returned to her cheeks, and she was calmed down considerably before bringing it up.

“We’ll start simple. What do you think of Adriana?”

“Noisy, energetic, happy, wasteful, picky, smart, and,” Kirsten stopped and frowned, bringing another spoonful to her mouth. “Weird.” Cameron laughed.

“Weird? She’s two of course she’s going to be weird. You’re weird, I’m weird, so of course my niece is going to be weird.” Kirsten laughed and shoved Cameron lightly.

“You know what I mean. I’ve never been around kids my entire life, and I don’t remember being one. All of this is so strange. Her energy, the way she gets up awake and isn’t groggy like us. She doesn’t stop all day, and I’m 24 and had to take a nap before noon!” Cameron laughed again, enjoying hearing her reactions.

“That’s also why I’m afraid. Well, one of the reasons.” Cameron took their empty bowls and set them on the stand, and held his arms open. Kirsten took the invitation, snuggling into him.

“Why are you afraid?”

“I can feel the loneliness of when my Dad left. Even though I couldn’t feel it then, I do feel it now. I never want to make an innocent child feel like that.”

“Kirsten, I don’t think you could even—“

“I don’t think I’d be a good mother. I have no mothering instinct, whatsoever. I’m afraid our kid would hate me like Maggie’s son hates her. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Quit the program? They need us, but so would a child…” Kirsten was in tears by the time she quit speaking, and Cameron had a few stray droplets shimmering in his own eyes.

“I’m scared too, for the same reasons. Except, you know, the being a mother part.” Kirsten mumbled a laugh and shifted to rest her head on Cameron’s chest. He felt a few stray tears soak into his shirt, and curled is arms around her.

“We’ll wait a couple years, maybe test out that marriage gig before deciding on kids. We’ve got time.” Cameron smiled when he heard her sleepy laugh again. A short while later, her breathing evened out. He ran a hand through her silky strands, and joined her in the darkness of sleep.


End file.
